Games » Cleveland Indians
Fastball counts and what they mean
Kevin Seitzer explains fastball counts to The Star's Lee Judge.
One to forget
Lee Judge
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This was a really good game for six innings…unfortunately, they played 10. Kyle Davies did what he set out to do: he threw well, minimized damage by not walking people, kept his team in it and left the game with a lead. After that it was a mess.
Seven walks, three of them leadoff walks (two of them scored), two errors, two wild pitches, two mental mistakes (to be fair, everyone thought Billy Butler was out when he left the bag after being called safe — I’d like to see a replay of how emphatic the umpire’s call was — and Ned Yost said Mike Aviles made the right decision when he threw behind the runner. (I’m unconvinced, but I’ll ask Mike about it next time we talk.)
Um, what else? I think a cat married a dog and Wilson Betemit got out of the way of a pitch that was going to hit him in the eighth inning with the bases loaded in a tie game.
One more time: WILSON BETEMIT GOT OUT OF THE WAY OF A PITCH THAT WAS GOING TO HIT HIM IN THE EIGHTH INNING WITH THE BASES LOADED IN A TIE GAME! Just stand still, take a knock, bring in Soria for the ninth and go home a winner.
TIMEOUT FOR FUNDAMENTALS: The one thing I think I could do at the major league level is get hit by a pitch. I’m not sure I’d survive, but I could sure as heck get hit. Wilson avoided an 81-MPH slider. I would’ve come out of the press box and taken that pitch in the ribs, if someone had given me that option.
Here’s how you get hit by a pitch: first, be old and slow (got both covered). Second, when the pitch comes at you, rotate your front shoulder back towards the catcher. This accomplishes two things: if it turns out to be a breaking pitch and is headed for the zone you’re still in a position to hit. You just rotate back to a good hitting position. (This is why it’s a bad idea to lift your arms on an inside pitch … which you see all the time…it takes you out of a hitting position.)
The second thing rotating your shoulder back towards the catcher does is protecting the front half of your body. If you stand naked in front of a mirror you will quickly realize almost all your favorite parts are attached to the front half of your body. When a right-hander rotates clockwise he presents the thick muscles on the back and legs to the pitch, which protects the face, hands, arms and as the English say, the twig and berries. (I really don’t know if the English say this, but Mike Myers used it on “Saturday Night Live” and it cracked me up.)
Anyway, there are hitters who have perfected this move and are experts at flinging an elbow out or a knee as they rotate, happy to take a knock and a base. Wilson Betemit is not one of them. The big question is not about this game, it’s about the next one. After the game Jason Kendall popped a cold one and said the team just has to forget this and concentrate on the next game. The ability to minimize bad streaks is crucial.
The Royals played their worst game of the year: Can they bounce back and play well tonight?
Two hands?
Someone asked me if I thought I’d ever run out of things to write about. I worried about that when I started doing this, but I’ve always got about three times as many notes as I can use after a ballgame. Take today, for instance: Bob Dutton asked Doug Sisson if catching a fly ball with two hands applies to the major leagues and Doug said no.
Gloves are much bigger now and you actually have less reach when using both hands. That doesn’t mean Doug approves of casual glove flips when receiving the ball. There’s still a right way to do it: when possible, above the nose (you don’t want the head snapping down to follow the ball on a lower catch) off to the side (don’t block your view of the ball) and over the throwing shoulder when a throw is required (it closes you up and puts you in a better position to throw) and on the glove side with nobody on.
Sisson believes the Royals have a very good group of outfield arms on this team, both starters and reserves. They’ve also got a really interesting (to me, but I’ve got a boring social life) rule of thumb for making throws: Doug said he wanted to come up with something that allowed the outfielders to make a quick decision. He didn’t want them trying to make up their minds about what to do with the ball while they’re picking it up.
So here’s the rule: if fielding the ball moves the outfielder towards the base the lead runner is headed towards or the ball is hit very hard, the outfielder can go after the lead runner. If fielding the ball moves the outfielder away from the base the lead runner is headed towards or it’s hit softly, the outfielder takes the ball to second in order to keep the double play in order. ‘Sis’ said they needed to keep this as simple as possible, which raises a question: if this is “Outfielding for Dummies” why did he have to explain it to me three times?
Home on the range…
The Alcides Escobar play that had everyone talking was not one on which he got an out. Over the weekend Esky went to his left on an Ichiro Suzuki ground ball that had been deflected by Bruce Chen. Alcides ended up on the first base side of second, did a 360, threw accurately while on the move and barely missed getting Ichiro…and his range rating went down.
OK, I can’t remember if it was range rating or range factor or ultimate Frisbee. The point is we’re all guesstimating. I’ve got my idea of what a great play is and someone else has another. Wearing a lab coat and working out a number with a decimal point doesn’t make it any more scientific. There aren’t any white lines on the field delineating areas or radar guns recording how fast the batted ball was moving.
We’re all indulging in educated guesses. So don’t take any numbers, including mine, as gospel.
Learning Spanish with Brayan…
Brayan Pena’s word of the day? “Amigo” He gave me the word along with a fist bump…and he says he’s going to start asking me for an English word of the day…any suggestions?
OK, any non-profane suggestions? When I asked Brayan if he cussed in Spanish or English he said neither, because he’s Cuban Catholic. He also said he Cuban Catholics don’t drink. I said that he had much to learn from American Catholics.
Davies
Cabrera
Gordon
My word would be Combo, as in "Combo beef and pork with a fry" @ Bryants.
The game did have a bad result. I'd never ask a player to potentially get hurt to win a game, but that's me. Hiram pitched very well last night considering and actually better, than his counterpart. 2 runs on 7 hits with no walks in 90 pitches isn't the most efficient, but show me a team without a 100 + Million dollar payroll that won't take that.
I still have a good feeling about the rest of the series. I think Kila will ultimately figure out his stroke and Seitz will work his magic like has with Frenchy. Speaking of....It's nice to have something other than the "K"s for Zack Greinke at the stadium, I noticed the "French Quarter" sign out on the Party Porch last night and from another blogger that the team is embracing the new players. Exciting times for baseball in KC.
I agree. No matter how this series turns out, this is a better group of athletes than last year.
You mentioned Jason Kendall today. I hadn't heard anything about him coming back. Is he off the DL? By the way great blog, keep up the good work.
Mike, Lee means Kendall was in the clubhouse with the guys, still on the DL though. Correct me if I'm wrong Lee, but Kendall does not travel with the team but is there for all the home games.
This isn't the first time this season that I saw a player get out of the way of a pitch with the bases loaded. Maybe it is a lost art? Maybe we exaggerate the skills the older players had like getting hit, better bunting, breaking up the double play or running into the catcher?
The thing that frustrated me about this game was all the mental errors that turned into physical errors. Jeffress walks the first batter than throws the ball away attempting to pick him off, c'mon. Hopefully they all sat around with Kendall and had a cold one to forget it all. We'll get 'em tonight.
"Wearing a lab coat and working out a number with a decimal point doesn’t make it any more scientific"
BEST LINE EVER
im not a slash guy or a war guy or a whip guy. im a wins/loses guy. too much analysis in baseball. i mean if i were running a fantasy team sure but im not so i dont care. loved that. and im new here (not even sure if this has been around a while) but i definitely will be a repeat reader. thanks
I don't know if Kendall's on the road, but he is here for all the home games. Andrew's probably right, though, he might stay in KC and do his rehab when the team's traveling.
I do think we tend to go overboard with the older players. I saw one guy talking about being old-school and remembered him with a huge afro and high stirrups. Probably drove the veterans of his day nuts.
I tried to think of anyone today who's got a reputation for getting hit by pitches...asked around the press room and guess who's the current leader for HBP? Jason Kendall.
I'll ask him about it tonight.
Bobbie:
Wins and Losses, just like any statistic, can be misleading when trying to evaluate how well a team is playing. While not the be all and end all of baseball analysis (because I do believe that a skilled eye can tell us lots of things that numbers can't), slash lines, WHIP and BABIP can tell fans quite a bit about how a player is performing, and how he should perform in the future. I don't think anybody would argue that -- would they, Lee?
No, Nick, most people, including me, would not throw the numbers out the window. In my opinion they only become a problem when someone looks at one number and tries to draw a conlusion from that.
Case in point: the LA reporters were sitting in front of me and talking about centerfielder Peter Bourjos and how his range was going to hurt the reputation of leftfielder Vernon Wells. Bourjos is taking balls that Wells caught in the past. The reporters were convinced that someone would write about Wells decline when it was really due to Bourjos (hope I'm spelling that right) and his range.
The numbers can't tell you everything, but it's easier to look at one number and reach a conclusion than to watch 162 games and reach a conclusion.
Nobody's got the complete answer and that certainly includes me.
Forgot to mention that Kendall does stay at home when the team's on the road. He comes to the stadium early in the day to do his rehab.
Interesting how Sietzer just ignores the "so you're going to say it's complicated" comment and keeps going. Man seems like he's all business when he's doing baseball. Just what the Royals need. Loving him as a coach!
Chuck, you're absolutely right. We told him keep his answers to a minute, minute and a half, I asked him one question, seven minutes later I look at my watch and Seitz is still going.
He loves hitting and loves teaching it.